What’s Up Doc? Celiac Awareness Month

May is Celiac Awareness Month and our good friend, Jasmine Jafferali, MPH, ACE-CPT has written a fantastic article to share with the SQ1 crowd on this topic!

Jasmine is the Program Director for Healthy Results, Ltd, and Program Coordinator for Educational Fitness Solutions, Inc. She has a diverse fitness background with over ten years of fitness and wellness industry experience working in campus recreation, corporate wellness, and a high-end commercial health club setting. She has presented on a wide range of health and fitness topics for the community, at major corporations, and at national and international conferences. Jasmine specializes in Maternal and Child Health and Wellness focusing on pre and postnatal fitness and is a Master Trainer for Healthy Moms® Fitness and Resist-a-ball®.

It is estimated that 1 out of 133 people have Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disease which effects the villi in the small intestine. (basically your small intestine goes from a shag carpet to a linoleum floor). There is no more villi to help absorb vital nutrients that is crucial for the body to function. While 97% of Celiacs go undiagnosed, approximately 90 million suffer from a gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity. While symptoms may be similar to Celiac Disease, one would need to undergo a series of screenings to get an official Celiac diagnosis. The University of Chicago has one of the best research institutes on Celiac disease in the country. (In fact they do a free blood screening each fall!)

What is gluten?

Gluten is a protein in the grains: wheat, rye, barley, durum, einkorn, graham, semolina, bulgur wheat, spelt, farro, kamut, and triticale and oats. (Oats are gluten-free, but there is a risk for cross contamination in the way they are processed in the mills).

Doctors are very unfamiliar with this disease. There are almost 300 different symptoms related to Celiac disease. Hopefully, you and your family can begin finding answers to whatever is ailing your health. Take the research and have an open discussion with your health care provider. Click on the health issue to find the research study.

It is estimated that 500,000 people will get diagnosed with Celiac disease thanks to more research. All of this research is also finding that people who suffer from any of the above symptoms or diseases show a decrease in their symptoms, recover fast, have better digestion which ensures nutrients are being fed into the body through the small intestine. When the small intestine is damaged by eating gluten, it can have the above effects (fatigue, anemia, digestive issues). By eliminating the offending food, digestive healing may begin.

If you feel you have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity, I recommend making an appointment with the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center to schedule a blood test before you take gluten out of your diet. Click here for their contact info.

The problem with most people is they are afraid to find out if they have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity because it means bye bye yummy foods, right? That is not the case anymore. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s article, Gluten free is going mainstream and how to navigate around the city of Chicago gluten-free!